THE LOLLY AWARDS

Over a decade ago, XPOSED introduced its friendly competitive side with the Lolly Awards! The awards were born out of a passionate night of love between a Lola and a Teddy Award, bringing together the extraordinary in queer experimental filmmaking. We know that competition is not nice, and we often debate whether to keep the awards. Here are three reasons for doing so: awards give visibility to filmmakers and their films, thus ultimately supporting queer voices in film distribution. Each Lolly Award comes with a €250 cash prize, which is our small financial contribution to future filmmaking. And by inviting a film jury, we create the space and experience for queer cinephiles to intensely discuss films over four days.

The three Lolly Awards for Short Film and the winner of the 11th Queer Short Film Fund will be presented by our XPOSED 2025 Jury in the Moviemento Lounge on Sunday, June 1st, at 20:15. In addition, the XPOSED team will announce the winners of the XPOSED Audience Award for Feature-Length Film and the XPOSED Audience Award for Short Film.

Our 2025 Lolly Award Jury

Matti Ullrich
(he/they)

A curator, researcher and producer for film and time-based media, based in Berlin. With a focus on queer experimental and documentary short films, they work with film festivals and as an independent programmer. Holding a degree in Film Studies Matti has done extensive research on the public sphere and censorship of activist and educational films of the HIV and AIDS pandemic. Exploring the sensual interplay of intimacy and temporality, they see film as a vessel that preserves and encapsulates fleeting moments and emotions. Matti currently selects and programs for Kassel Documentary Film and Video Festival.

Lamin Leroy Gibba
(he/him)

An actor, writer, and producer. He studied acting and film at The New School in New York city. His short films FEVER SOURCE, CLOUD ZERO, and DOGFRIEND (OT: HUNDEFREUND) screened at global festivals, including Tribeca Film Festival and BFI Flare. DOGFRIEND won first prize at the International Short Film Festival Berlin and was nominated for the German Short Film Award. His play DOPPELTREPPE ZUM WALD won the audience award and the SWR2 Audioplay Award at the Heidelberger Stückemarkt. Gibba is the creator, showrunner, head writer, and lead actor of the TV series BLACK FRUIT (OT: SCHWARZE FRÜCHTE), which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. The series is currently streaming on ARD.

Lillah Halla
(she/her/them)

A Brazilian director and screenwriter based in Berlin. Lillah studied Directing and Screenwriting at the Escuela Internacional de Cine y Televisión in Cuba (2010–2014), where she currently teaches as a Guest Professor. Lillah´s debut feature, LEVANTE (2023), premiered at Semaine de la Critique, Cannes 2023, winning the FIPRESCI Award and over 25 international prizes, including IFFR Rotterdam, Palm Springs, Festival do Rio, and Havana. Levante was the opening feature at XPOSED 2024. Lillah´s short film MENARCA (2020) also premiered at Semaine de la Critique, Cannes 2020, where it was acquired by Canal+. It screened widely, won multiple awards, and was featured as MUBI’s Film of the Day in 2022. Menarca was also part of XPOSED 2022

Najwa Ahmed

A Berlin based, visual artist, writer, curator and filmmaker. Their artistic practice tackles themes of queer politics, belonging, displacement, identity and gender, using diverse artistic mediums. Their curatorial work is motivated by their belief in our collective memory and the need to platform our own narratives. Their films, performances and artworks have been exhibited in several spaces like Kaaistudios and De Kriekelaar Theatre in Brussels, Rundgand Weißensee, B.L.O.-Ateliers, ZK/U and nGbK among other spaces in Berlin and other cities in Germany. In collaboration with other artists and cultural activists they are currently building The Mural platform, which is meant to promote the work and connections of artists from the global South.

Please see below for a list of past LOLLY AWARD winners

2024

Lolly Award: The River That Never Ends by John Thomas Trinidad, Philippines, 2022
Lolly Award: Beyond the Golden Line by SJ Rahatoka, Germany, 2024
Lolly Award: I Was Never Really Here by Gabriel Bihina Arrahnio, Germany, 2022
Honorable Mention: Taking My Time to Dance by Celeste Lapida, Philippines, 2022
Honorable Mention: Queer Exile by Ahmed Awadalla, Germany, 2024
Honorable Mention: Flores del otro Patio by Jorge Cadena, Colombia, Switzerland, 2022
XPOSED Audience Award for Short Film: Alex’s Machine (La Machine d’Alex) by Mael Le Mée, France, 2022
XPOSED Audience Award for Feature-Length Film: Queendom by Agniia Galdanova, USA, France, 2023

2023

Food for thought Lolly Award: Tornar-se um Homem na Idade Média (Becoming Male in the Middle Ages) by Pedro Neves Marques, Portugal, 2022
Diverse Languages Lolly Award: Os Animais Mais Fofos e Engraçados do Mundo (The Cutest and Funniest Animals in the World) by Renato Sircilli, Brazil 2023
Relevation Lolly Award: Bigger on the Inside by Angelo Madsen Minax, USA, 2022
Honorable Mention: Behind Every Good Man by Nikolai Ursin, USA, 1967
XPOSED Audience Award for Short Film: A Letter to Myself – Valerie by Omar Gabriel, Lebanon/Canada, 2022
XPOSED Audience Award for Feature-Length Film: KOKOMO CITY by D. Smith, USA 2023

2022
Lolly Awards:
– Uma Paciéncia Selvagem me Trouxe Até (A Wild Patience has taken me here) by Érica Sarmet, Brazil, 2021
– Sitt el Beit (The Lady of the House) by Anya Kneez, USA, 2021
– อนินทรีย์แดง (Red Aninsri; Or, Tiptoeing on the Still Trembling Berlin Wall) by Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke, Thailand, 2020
Special Mention: SESTRE (SISTERS) by Kukla, Slovenia, 2020
XPOSED Audience Award for Short Film: Jackfruit by Thuy Trang Nguyen, Germany 2021
XPOSED Audience Award for Feature-Length Film: VALENTINA by Cássio Pereira dos Santos, Brazil 2020 and FRAMING AGNES by Chase Joynt, Canada & USA 2022

2021
Surpreme Lolly Award: INTERNATIONAL DAWN CHORUS DAY by John Greyson
Political Lolly Award: QUEBRAMAR (BREAKWATER) by Cris Lyra
Experimental Lolly Award: BARBÈS by Randa Maroufi

2019
Best XPOSED Short Film was awarded to: SOMETHING SAID from Jay Bernard
The Audience Choice Lolly Award for the best Short Film was awarded to: MARGUERITE by Marianne Farley
The Audience Choice Feature Film Lolly Award went to: THE SIGN FOR LOVE by El-Ad Cohen and Iris Ben Moshe

2018
Best XPOSED Short Film was awarded to: MY OWN WINGS from Katia Repina & Carla Moral & LATIFÚNDIO from Érica Sarmet
Best GERMAN Short Film was awarded to: RIOT NOT DIET from Julia Fuhr Mann
The Audience Choice Lolly Award for the best Short Film was awarded to: EVERYTHING THAT I’M NOT by Roman Manfredi

2017
Best XPOSED Short Film was awarded to: THE FOX EXPLOITS THE TIGERS MIGHT from Lucky Kuswandi
Best GERMAN Short Film was awarded to: BOY from Yalda Afsah
The Audience Choice Lolly Award for the best Short Film was awarded to: BOY from Yalda Afsah

2016
Best XPOSED Short Film was awarded to: AMERICAN REFLEXXX from Alli Coates
Best GERMAN Short Film was awarded to: HEIMAT XXX from Sebastian Dominic Auer
The Audience Choice Lolly Award for the best Short Film was awarded to: GOSPEL OF ANASYRMA von Elene Naveriani

2015
Best XPOSED Short Film was awarded to: SHYNESS IS NICE from Anna Helme
Best GERMAN Short Film was awarded to: PLEASE RELAX NOW from Vika Kirchenbauer
Best INTERNATIONAL Short Film was awarded to: HOLE from Martin Edralin
The Audience Choice Lolly Award for the best Short Film was awarded to: HOLE by Martin Edralin and Fahrt zur Hölle by Henning Beckhoff

2014
Best XPLICIT Short Film was awarded to: WANT SOME ORANGES from Goodyn Green
Best XPOSED Short Film was awarded to: UNDRESS ME from Victor Lindgren
Best GERMAN Short Film was awarded to: OFF WHITE TULIPS from Aykan Safoglu
Best INTERNATIONAL Short Film was awarded to HATCH from Christoph Kuschnig

2013
Best XPOSED Short Film was awarded to: ES HAT MICH SEHR GEFREUT from Mara Mattuschka
Best GERMAN Short Film was awarded to: IT’S CONSUMING ME from Kai Staenicke
Best INTERNATIONAL Short Film was awarded to GINGERS from Antonio da Silva

2012
Best XPOSED Short Film was awarded to: THROUGH THE WINDOW from Chen Shumowitz
Best GERMAN Short Film was awarded to: ZUCHT UND ORDNUNG from Jan Soldat
Best INTERNATIONAL Short Film was awarded to: THE BURIED from Jonathan Pope Evans

2011
Best XPOSED Short Film was awarded to: MURO by Juanma Carrillo
Best GERMAN Short Film was awarded to: MANN MIT BART from Maria Pavlidou
Best INTERNATIONAL Short Film was awarded to: STEAM from Eldar Rappaport